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命脈

めいみゃく

life, existence (of a tradition)

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 伝統は辛うじて命脈を保っている。

    でんとうはかろうじてめいみゃくをたもっている。

    The tradition barely survives.

  2. その流派は今も命脈を保つ。

    そのりゅうははいまもめいみゃくをたもつ。

    That school of art survives to this day.

  3. 小さな工房が江戸時代からの技術の命脈をつないできた。

    ちいさなこうぼうがえどじだいからのぎじゅつのめいみゃくをつないできた。

    Small workshops have kept alive a craft passed down since the Edo period.

Common patterns

命脈を保つ
to survive, to keep going
命脈をつなぐ
to keep alive, to carry on
命脈が尽きる
to come to an end

Memory tip

脈 is a pulse, so 命脈 is the faint pulse of something still barely alive. It is literary and practically confined to 命脈を保つ／つなぐ, usually about a tradition or craft rather than a person.

Kanji in this word

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What does 命脈 mean?